


Winged Wingman

by catisacat



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-10 08:45:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5578996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catisacat/pseuds/catisacat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zer0 tries to get Mordecai's attention by befriending Talon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winged Wingman

Zer0 had taken an interest in Mordecai.

Long nights alone with each other in the sniper nest had seen to that.

Things had really slowed down after Jack’s demise. Zer0 and his crew were heroes but they quickly came to realize that theatrical heroics weren’t something you got to do very often.

Sanctuary remained in the sky, a beacon to Vault Hunters from all over. However, it was also a target. What was it about being dangerous that made people come after you like a moth to a flame?

Bandits willingly flinging themselves at Sanctuary had given the snipers more than enough targets to amuse themselves. A hundred little contests occurred between the two snipers every single day. Who could kill the most, who could kill the first, who could get the most headshots. Anything.

Fortune had made sure that both were competitive enough to amuse each other without being so aggressive that they grew to hate each other.

Zer0 found themself trying to impress Mordecai more and more. They weren’t sure whether he’d noticed though. He certainly noticed more than most humans but Zer0 knew they weren’t the easiest to read.

They knew how they’d show interest to another of their species. However, it had come up once out on the road with the other five Vault Hunters to less than positive reactions.

In Maya’s own words she’d told them “I don’t pretend to be a love expert but you will definitely not be able to romance a human being by leaving the corpse of their enemy on their doorstep. They will not like that. Don’t ever, ever, EVER do that.”

Of course, Salvador had been doing his best to yell over her that it was the best, most romantic thing ever and that they should definitely do it and record their crush’s reaction for posterity.

Axton and Gaige agreed that the proper way to a human’s heart was to get to know them and show interest in what they care about. Be someone they can trust and talk to about their interests. Maya cosigned this as well.

And of course Krieg was yelling something about ripping out someone’s screaming heart, staring, staring, EAT IT ALL. He’d misunderstood what the dilemma was but dang it, he was doing his best to try and help.

This all led to Zer0’s current situation. Alone in the sniper nest and awkwardly trying to pet Talon.

It wasn’t uncommon for Mordecai to let the bird fly around without him. Especially when he was dealing with official business with Lilith and Brick like he was right now. She’s insisted on the other two being around for big decisions.

Talon was eyeing Zer0 warily as they tried to approach him.

Animals never liked them. Big, spindly, creepy alien creature. That just screams ‘predator.’ You can’t blame all things great and small for thinking Zer0 wants to eat them.

But the words of their friends had stuck in their mind. Figure out what your crush likes. Show interest in it.

This was sounding increasingly difficult as Talon screeched at them, flaring their wings.

Zer0 hunched down, deciding maybe if they looked smaller they’d look less threatening. Frankly, it just made it look like they were trying to stalk their prey.

Talon just started squawking and flapping his wings in response.

The bird was now within arm’s reach of Zer0 and couldn’t be less happy about it.

He was still eyeing the alien with suspicion as they mimicked Mordecai, holding out an arm for the bird to step up on.

They both stood there silently, staring at each other.

Never a creature of many words Zer0 finally broke the silence with a quiet request of, “Up.”

To their surprise it worked and Talon very tentatively stepped onto their slender arm.

Zer0 really hadn’t expected Talon to listen to a learned command from anyone other than Mordecai but was ecstatic. In their own, incredibly muted way. They pointlessly flashed a “:)” at the bird.

They careful extended a long finger and scratched gently at the bird’s neck.

He didn’t recoil.

Success.

Zer0 really hadn’t had a plan for wooing Mordecai beyond ‘befriend Talon’ though.

They also hadn’t had a plan for what to do once the bird liked them.

There was another stare off with him, albeit a much less tense one. The bird clunked his beak against their helmet affectionately. Both remained silent though.

It was punctured as the sound of gunfire rang out and an aircraft flew by.

Zer0 quickly grabbed their gun but paused as they stared at Talon again. Can’t snipe while holding a bird. They imitated Mordecai again, putting their arm next to his favorite perch.

“Down,” Zer0 sternly commanded.

Talon just stared at them.

Immediate panic.

Zer0 looked back and forth between the bird and the direction of the gunfire.

They gently nudged his claws against the perch. Nothing. Talon has decided Zer0’s arm was where he wants to be.

More gun fire.

Zer0 made a noise of annoyance and started awkwardly trying to aim with one arm.

It was going very poorly but at least they were thinning the herd somewhat. The yells of Maya and the sounds of jubilation from Gaige in the not so far distance was comforting. They would have rather heard the rest of the group but two out of five wasn’t bad.

Still, frustration was mounting as Talon remained in a vicegrip on their arm.

Zer0 contemplated trying harder to get the bird off but they weren’t about to risk hurting it. They instead put all of their considerable focus into trying to hit the target at least half the time.

They were getting tenser by the moment as their arm started to ache.

They nearly fell off the tower as, for the first time in eons, they were shocked. Specifically by the sudden raspy laughter of Mordecai.

“What are you DOING?” the second sniper asked, completely forgetting they were under attack for half a second. The sight of a gangly alien flailing around trying to shoot enemies with a large bird on their arm was completely absurd.

Zer0 froze up before trying to regain their composure. Badly. Mostly because Talon was still firmly latched to them.

They just stood there, staring at each other for a few moments before gunshots and screaming made figuring out this weird situation Mordecai’s secondary priority. Not by a large margin but enough of one.

“Talon, get ‘em!” he yelled, pointing at a particularly quick Buzzard zipping by.

To Zer0’s relief the bird finally freed their arm, launching itself out towards the offending aircraft.

They dropped their arm, maybe a little harder than need be. Ow. They were stronger than the average human but dang. Nobody is made to hold their arm out straight for ten minutes in a row.

For another blissful fifteen minutes they didn’t have to address the fact Mordecai had walked in on them holding Talon. But as the fighting started slowing down it occurred to them that they’d have to deal with it sooner or later.

As the final Buzzard fell and cheering started coming from below Zer0 decided ‘later.’ They would rather do that ‘later.’

Mordecai called for Talon to come back as the alien tensed up to run and hop off the other side of the tower. Disappear into town. However, at the last second, they realized the bird wasn’t flying back to Mordecai. He was flying right at them.

Before their brain caught up with their muscles they put an arm up. Claws wrapped around their thin arm again. At least they’d raised their right arm this time. Give poor leftie a break.

They briefly acknowledged the irony of being caged by a bird.

More raspy laughter, “Hey, looks like he likes you! What were you doing with him earlier anyways?”

Zer0 stared at the bird who tilted his head at him. They could have sworn the bird was intentionally trying to keep them here. Maybe he didn’t like them. Maybe this was their feathery revenge.

“I wanted to see… If he would let me pet him. The answer was yes.”

“That’s an understatement,” he said, pointing out that the bird was still latched onto their arm for dear life. He snapped his fingers a few times and freed the alien from his pet. Talon landed on his perch, settling down and watching the two lanky figures intently.

“So… why the sudden interest in my bird?” Mordecai said, giving Zer0 a knowing smile. He wasn’t stupid and the alien was far from the first person to try to gain his favor by befriending his avian companions.

Went a lot better this time though. He acutely remembered having to pull a clawing, enraged Bloodwing off a screaming and terrified Moxxi.

Zer0 kept their mouth shut, staring at him. He briefly wondered if they even had a mouth or eyes. Frankly, they hadn’t wasted much mental energy on wondering what was under that suit. Taken it at face value. Or rather, lack-of-face value.

But hey, if the alien was interested in him it was significantly more relevant to know what was under there. Hell, maybe they weren’t even an alien. A robot or some shit.

“Well?” Mordecai asked again teasingly, taking a step forward. Zer0 took a matching step back.

Suddenly a loud squawk pierced the air and in a fraction of a second the assassin had lunged and escaped over the edge of the tower.

Mordecai stepped up to the edge and looked over, watching them harmlessly land and run off into the center of town. He’d be nice, pretend that he didn’t know where the alien had their hidey holes. They had to come back up here sooner or later.

He walk over to Talon who was now preening himself proudly and spoke, “What’s your stake in this? You don’t let anyone else hold you. Hell, you tried to peck out Lil’s eyes for lookin’ at you too long last week.”

Aliens are weird. Feathery or not. He suddenly wondered if Zer0 had feathers crushed under that suit. Didn’t know how he felt about that possibility.

His bird just looked up at him, tilted his head, and suddenly took off with a loud squawk. He watched as Talon flew down towards the rest of Sanctuary, wondering what the bird was up to tonight.

Mordecai’s question was answered a few minutes later when the creature was escorted back up to the sniper nest on the arm of an embarrassed and entrapped Zer0.


End file.
